Talking Points: Tiger has a bad day

What’s the buzz from the world of sports? Here are some items that will have people talking:

1

A 77? He shot a 77?

What?

He was 3-under-par at one point, wasn’t he?

He was.

That’s right. Tiger Woods, who birdied three of his first five holes Thursday, went 10-over-par over the last 13 holes to finish with a 77.

Perhaps now is the time that Woods will actually acknowledge that something is wrong with his game. Before, it was his injuries. But coming into the PGA Championship, he said he had not felt this healthy in years.

Or maybe it was just a bad day. Perhaps he will shoot a 63 on Friday to get back to even-par, then make a weekend run.

Doubtful.

And if it was just a bad day Thursday, well, those days are becoming too common for Tiger Woods. That’s bad for him, and bad for golf.

This could be it for Tiger 2011. We hope Tiger 2012 will show us glimpses of Tiger 2005.

2

One of the dirty little secrets of Little League and other youth baseball/softball national and international tournaments is the cost associated with the event for the family members.

It’s not cheap to follow your 11-year-old to state, regionals, and then to the World Series, for example.

Now, with more and more coverage from ESPN, it appears to be getting more expensive.

A reader pointed out that ESPN’s coverage of one particular regional scheduled a semifinal on a Wednesday, but the finals on a Saturday. Which means two days off between games for the youngsters, presumably two more days worth of hotel costs for the families, two more days off of work for the parents.

We hope ESPN is pitching in a fund to help offset those costs. After all, we can only imagine that a Little League tournament would only have two days off in between games for the sole purpose of having those games on television.